This Startup Wants to Simplify How Patients Administer Their Medications

Evendale-based startup Enable Injections is hoping to help patients suffering from chronic conditions better administer their medications using a device they can operate from home.

The company, founded by CEO Mike Hooven in 2010, makes a disposable device that administers medication to patients in a quick and low-maintenance manner. The device ranges in sizes, holding anywhere from 4 mL to 50 mL of medication.

Mike Hooven, founder and CEO of Enable Injections

The device can be worn in different places on the body, but Hooven said that patients tend to prefer to wear it on their abdomen. The device also hurts less than a needle or syringe.

“There’s a big market for devices for patients to administer drugs, which are normally delivered intravenously in a clinic or hospital,” Hooven said.

Since launching, Enable Injections has been working to develop the device, and has also built a Bluetooth platform to accompany it that connects Enable’s pharmaceutical partners to patients. But next year, the company will be testing its devices in two clinical studies, and expects them to hit the U.S. market in 2020.

The studies will test how the device administers medications for chronic conditions associated with oncology, immunology, rheumatology, hematology and blood diseases.

Right now, Enable Injections has agreements with multiple pharmaceutical companies, including CSL Behring, based in Bradley, Ill. When the device hits the market, Hooven said pharmaceutical companies will only charge patients for the medication. There will be no added charge for patients who opt to use Enable Injections’ device.

And those who do opt to use it should see a reduction in their overall healthcare costs and amount of time spent in a physician’s office, Hooven said.

“One of the huge benefits is you’re taking the patient and transferring something from a hospital or clinic into their home,” Hooven said.

Enable Injections has about 75 employees and more than $30 million in funding, Hooven said. When they begin producing their device in bulk, they’ll be manufacturing them in Ohio.

“We’re very excited about building this business in Ohio,” Hooven said. “I think this has got the potential to be a great long-term business.”

Katherine is a Staff Writer at Chicago Inno, covering tech and startups in the city and its surrounding suburbs. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Columbia College Chicago, and her work has appeared in Modern Healthcare, Crain’s Chicago Business, and The Detroit News. She joined Inno in 2017. Email: kdavis@americaninno.com